


Animated

by Miraphina Atherton (mew_tsubaki)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Padma & Mandy & Lisa are there too, bc eagle girl banter XD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-11-23 23:17:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20897768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mew_tsubaki/pseuds/Miraphina%20Atherton
Summary: Morag and Su have one-sided conversations...according to the other eagle girls in the year four dormitory.





	Animated

**Author's Note:**

> The Harry Potter characters belong to J.K. Rowling, not to me. Read, review, and enjoy!

Padma heaved an abnormally large sigh and tossed yet another item of clothing from her trunk. "Yes, both of them," she confirmed to her friends and roommates.

Though it was long before lights out and none of them were rule breakers, each of the other witches joined her in the dorm, wide awake and in no danger of falling asleep anytime soon. How could they? Mandy repeated herself, pointing out the fact that kept them all cringing: "But…Potter. And Weasley. Both?"

Morag was glad to have the bed across from Padma, that way she didn't catch the glare she shot Mandy (and what a glare! Her twin would be proud) off to the left.

"It was last-minute," Padma grumbled. "And each of the Triwizard heroes needs a dance partner."

"You mean a date," Lisa unhelpfully corrected. Her face was hidden by her blond bob as she bent to collect the gathering mess on the floor surrounding the Indian witch.

Padma groaned into her trunk, which only made the desolate noise echo. "_Please_ let's not call it that."

"If you dislike the idea so much, then why'd you say yes?" Morag asked. She glanced at Su beside her, and the other girl nodded. "Even Su's stumped."

"Su didn't actually say anything," Padma retorted, pulling her head out of her trunk. She narrowed her eyes at Morag. "And…Harry's not all that bad. I s'pose Ron can be…all right?"

Mandy made a gagging sound, and Morag and Su snickered. "Ron Weasley, _all right_? Sure, Harry's kind of cute in that permanent-bedhead manner, but—" Mandy shook her head and gave Padma a sympathetic smile. "They're danger magnets, and their social skills are less desirable than—than—than a pop quiz from Snape!"

Out of the corner of her eye, Morag saw Su narrow her eyes. Ah, that was easy. "Su thinks the comparison's a bit of a stretch," Morag voiced.

Now both Mandy and Padma looked at them. Those two sets of eyes, brown and dark brown, darted between Morag and Su. Padma sighed, and Mandy made a noise with her tongue against her teeth. "I can't with you two. You understand Su better than Padma understands Parvati, and they're _twins_, mate."

Morag shrugged, though it felt strange having so much attention on her so suddenly. "Sometimes people are just like that," she said.

"And sometimes sisters drag you into misery dates," Lisa pointed out with a look to Padma. "Instead of tearing through your entire trunk, perhaps think back to when your parents sent you and Parvati outfits once word got out about the tournament and the Yule Ball that would follow around break?"

With their minds back on the important issue, the five girls shut up as Padma thumbed her chin, thinking. Then her eyes widened. "Of course!" She turned, reached for the inner right corner of her trunk, and pulled out a shimmering sari.

"No fair!" Mandy complained. She twisted a lock of wavy brown hair around her finger. "You're going to the Yule Ball _and_ your trunk is one of the newer ones with added corner storage?"

"And I've just one day to figure out hair and makeup for that ruddy ball because it's tomorrow night," Padma reminded her. She chewed on her lower lip. "I should try to meet up with Parvati so we can coordinate our looks…"

With a sigh, Mandy heaved herself up off her four-poster at the same time Lisa planted herself on her own bed and stuck her nose in a medicinal herb book. "All right, all right… I'll help you track her and Brown down, because you know they'll be attached at the hip, and what better way to balance out Lavender Brown than with Mandy Brocklehurst?" Mandy laughed at her own joke and led the way out of the dorm, but the grateful expression on Padma's face as she trotted out after her said it all.

"Want to go watch the show, then?" Morag suggested, though, as soon as the words left her mouth, she knew Su's answer.

Unsurprisingly, Su raised a single eyebrow.

"Yeah, me neither."

"If," Lisa piped up, "you two want to continue talking, might I suggest the common room?" She didn't even look up from her book as she said it.

Morag sneered, a quip on the tip of her tongue for when Lisa was irritating like this, but Su gently touched Morag's arm and shook her head. Morag followed when Su cocked her head towards the door.

Coming down the stairs and with the door firmly shut behind them, Morag loosed her thoughts. "For Flamel's sake…! Lisa is so bloody snippy when she's got a new book in her hands. We were barely making a peep!"

Su threw her a look over her shoulder.

"All right, so _I_ was barely making a peep, but still!"

Su sighed as they reached the bottom of the staircase. When Morag stopped beside her, she bumped her right shoulder against Morag's. "She's seriously considering becoming a Healer in the future."

"I know, I know. She's been worried for years about what she might do after school, and now that she thinks she's found a path…" Truth be told, now that she herself voiced it, Morag had to deflate. Lisa deserved some credit for being one of the few, if not only one, in their year truly thinking about life after Hogwarts.

Su smiled softly.

"Yes, yes… I'm a big ol' softie… But don't you dare tell anyone else!"

That eyebrow was cocked again, as if to say, "Who would I tell?"

"Er, right. Good point."

The pair of witches surveyed the common room. Most of the older students had claimed some part of the room for themselves. Some were practicing their dancing, and a few younger students, those who wouldn't be allowed into the Yule Ball, lingered on, hoping to hear of plans for romance or begging to be snuck in so they could experience the ball for themselves.

Morag frowned. "Rather crowded, huh?"

Su darted her eyes to the entryway.

"Hang outside in December? Sounds like a foolishly fun plan." Morag grinned. "I'm in."

Su's smile bordered on breaking out into laughter as Morag scurried to a couch and grabbed a thick blanket off the back. And she did finally laugh when Morag threw the blanket over both their shoulders' when they went outside and leaned against the cold metal railing.

"N-Not as f-freezing as I thought it would b-be," Morag said through chattering teeth.

Su held up a finger and produced her wand from under her jumper. With a precise, jagged swish of her wand, a bubble of warmth wrapped around them; even the railing was comfortable to lean against. Su smirked.

Morag laughed. "Of course you're so proud of yourself…! I'm not certain anyone else in our year or even the year or two above can do nonverbal magic…!"

"A necessary skill," Su stated quietly.

That made the spunky witch calm and purse her lips. She'd always wondered what it was that kept her best mate so quiet. Was it a family whose yelling scared her into silence? Was it a family characteristic to save one's words as much as possible? Sometimes Morag chastised herself for befriending Su, even unconsciously, because Morag knew herself never to shut up. Other times…

Times like this, when Morag only was privy to Su's voiced musings, were too special to give up or to share with anyone else.

Happy to have Su to herself yet at the same time feeling that touch of guilt, Morag cuddled closer to Su. It was a relief that Su indulged her and rested her cheek against Morag's head as the taller girl snuggled in.

"I think," Su began after a moment's silence, "I'm a tad envious. Of Padma."

That whipped Morag's head up off Su's shoulder. "Beg pardon?"

"Going to the ball. It could be fun, you never know."

"…oh."

Su bit her lower lip. "You thought I meant her going with Ron Weasley?" Her shoulders shook silently.

"Oi! You caught me off-guard, is all!" Even so, cool though she was, Morag felt stupidly red-faced.

Su chuckled. "I assure you, no." She leaned with her hands on the railing and stared up at the cloudy nighttime winter sky. "But a ball… The dancing, the dresses, the music, the food…"

Morag scrunched up her nose. The thought of dresses wasn't a plus for her. She nearly grumbled about whether a wizard's dress robes might be tailored for a witch's bosom, but she kept the idea private when she caught sight of Su's profile.

Su's eyes were black and angled, and they often made Morag pause and lose her train of thought. The Asian witch's eyes had this look about them, as if Su were permanently smiling, her eyes crinkled in a stamp of delight.

…while wizard's robes were Morag's preference, a dress might be all right to suffer through if it meant she could spend such an evening with Su.

As if on cue, Su turned her head and caught Morag staring. Her pale beige cheeks took on a spot of color—as if she'd never cast the Heat Charm. "It's a silly thought, isn't it? Wanting to go to the Yule Ball?"

"No," Morag relented. She linked her arm with Su's as they huddled over the railing. "It does sound like fun, though I've learned I've two left feet, thanks to McGonagall's dancing lessons."

Su patted her hand and gripped it. "We wouldn't have to do it all, if we went. We could eat our fill and blend into the wall afterwards."

"Be wallflowers, you mean?" Morag inhaled, gave it another thought, and exhaled. "You're right that no one would _make_ us do it all."

"You sound as though you're coming around to the idea now."

Morag twirled a lock of hair, same as Mandy had earlier, around her finger. It took her a moment to realize her dark brown hair was tangled with Su's blue–black lock. She dropped her finger, though their hair remained loosely twisted together. "Maybe."

"Are you worried about the formalwear?"

Morag shrugged. "I s'pose I could scrounge something together from what I packed this year. I don't think I came as prepared as others." She grinned. "Why? Are you?"

Su's eyed widened, and she dropped her gaze to where their hands rested together on the railing.

Oh. Crap. "Uh, I mean, I, uh, would love to see…what you have. To wear." Ohh, that sounded so wrong. "To the Yule Ball." Way to clarify and save the day, Morag.

Su let an odd beat pass, only worsening Morag's embarrassment. "It's nothing ornamental. Just…a black dress. Simple." Her face took on even more color. "…I think it came with gloves, even."

The visual made Morag's brain check out for a heartbeat. When she returned to the present, she found herself smiling. "I bet you look smashing in it, Su."

"It'd probably look nicer on you, honest. Although…"

Morag tamped down her urge to scrunch up her nose again at the thought of wearing the dress.

"…I bet you'd look quite dashing in dress robes."

Of all the things she might ever hope her best mate to say, Morag had never imagined Su would be quite so in line with her own thoughts. A rush of affection surged through her, and she felt more comfortable with herself than she had that first day in second year when she realized she liked witches and would've hunted down the basilisk on her own if it had come after her or her friends—a pointless task, since she'd learned her fellow eagles were all half-bloods, and she was a pureblood herself.

"Morag?"

Morag laughed. "Well, as I said…maybe I could scrounge something together from my trunk. School slacks, a matching blazer, and a dress shirt—that should do it, yeah? Although I'm bound to catch McGonagall's eye if I have to wear a tie," she bemoaned.

"Surely one of the boys could lend you one?"

"Maybe." Morag paused. Michael had spoken of going, and Terry and Anthony would take each other once either one asked the other at the last second (honestly—boys!). Morag wondered if either Stephen or Kevin could do a witch a favor. "But I'll have to ask tonight, or—"

Her brain came to a screeching halt.

"Hold on."

It was all innuendo, but…

"Su…"

No. It couldn't be—could it?

Morag gawped at her. She wanted to ask, she _had_ to ask_—"Are you asking me out to the Yule Ball?"_—but she couldn't. The words just wouldn't come out.

But, as ever with Su Li, words weren't required. Cheeks aflame, Su gripped Morag's hand on the railing. She didn't move, but it felt as if she edged closer to Morag under the bronze plaid throw covering them from chills the charm couldn't fend off.

So Morag answered without words: She flipped her hand over and gripped Su's hand, as well.

* * *

"We have a look in mind!" Mandy announced as each girl crawled into bed that night.

"So you said three times already," Lisa reminded her with a huff. The blonde rubbed her eyes before turning her nearby lamp off. She flicked her wand, and the curtains around her bed drew closed.

"Yes, but it's _exciting_," Mandy continued. She bounced on her bed, and Padma tried to give her a thankful smile, but Morag could see the tired slouch of her shoulders.

"Oi, Mandy," Morag called over to her. "It's bedtime. Let's all catch up on our beauty rest, yeah?"

Mandy, the cheeky fiend, stuck her tongue out at Morag. "You're only raining on my parade because we're all jealous Padma got invited."

"You can always go by yourself or with friends," Padma reminded her. The line was rehearsed and had flat affect; Padma likely had been telling Mandy this on the way to and from visiting her twin.

"But then I'd look like a sad sack!"

"Find other sad sacks and you won't be alone."

Mandy gaped at her even as Padma did as Lisa and tucked in. That left the curvy witch to face Morag. "Morag! Please? Won't you go with me?"

Morag coughed. "I hadn't really been thinking about going…" Which was a fact.

Mandy pouted. "Damn. Well, maybe one of the boys will be 'round…"

"If anyone's around, they'll probably be up here," Morag pointed out.

"I'll drown myself in an evening of Gobstones if I have to." After that, Mandy heaved a dramatic sigh and flopped over on her bed, worming her way beneath the covers.

Morag turned to get her own light, but she was surprised to see Su still up. On her feet, even. Morag grinned. "What are you doing?" she whispered.

Su kept her eyes on her feet as she made a series of quicksteps. She was graceful, not tripping even once. Pleased with herself, Su sat at last on the edge of her bed on the side facing Morag.

"What?" Morag hissed into the dim light.

Su leaned forward so only Morag could hear. "We can't both have two left feet tomorrow, can we?"

Forget Mandy—Su was the cheeky fiend! And the thought must've shown on her face, for Su's shoulders quietly shook as she climbed into bed. But, laughter aside, she calmed with the slightest of soft smiles as she reached across the sea of stone between their four-posters and held her hand out to Morag.

Of course Morag took it.

Padma, Mandy, and Lisa didn't understand, on multiple levels, why Morag and Su were connected the way they were. It wasn't so much that words weren't required.

Sometimes…no words at all spoke volumes.

**Author's Note:**

> -w- I quite enjoy writing Morag, especially in femslash (which, now that I think about it, I've p much only written her in femslash bc I hc her to be lesbian), but whether it's a fluffy friendship story or romance, it's just. Fun. X) I always love eagle girl banter, and I think this fic actually helped me sketch their individual personalities a bit better; the only exception is Morag hasn't become as crass yet as I imagine her to be. XD Morag and Su strike me as having a rly great friendship, too, whether it's a LisaSu or a MoragRomilda story instead of a MoragSu fic, but it was nice to embrace the friends-becoming-more trope with them here, esp bc their personalities juxtapose rly nicely? I know they're extremely minor charries, so most of this is just personal hc, but these are hcs I've written and developed in other fics, as well, and coming back to hcs is like coming home, imo. :') It hadn't occurred to me at first to include a bonus scene, but, seeing how cute it turned out, I'm glad I did. -w- As with "free skies," this fic came about bc I've returned to working on my drabble collection, you're nobody until somebody loves you, but here's hoping for more Morsu from me~
> 
> Thanks for reading, and please review!
> 
> -mew-tsubaki -w-


End file.
